We're an affiliate
Just so you know, we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.
Impulse buying is easy to do. In fact, many of us have organized our lives so that shopping is easier than almost any other form of communication. We seem to hope that the organizations we buy from and the things we get can stand in for a hug or kind word from a loved one. Sadly, shopping is the one false friend we never seem to give up on.
Fresh Start
To stop impulse buying, understand that this habit is actually ingrained in you from very early in your life. When you were hungry, you cried. Somebody fed you, and you felt better. Looking outside of ourselves is natural when we feel an emptiness. However, as we get older we understand that chocolate ice cream really won’t help when we’re dealing with a grumpy family member or an irate boss. Shopping also serves to fill that emptiness, about as ineffectively as chocolate ice cream.
To take better, more positive control of your life, the first step is to Stop the Meanness! Yes, you’ve made mistakes. It’s part of being human. You understand that you have a problem and you’re going to do something about it. Celebrate this strength instead of being cruel to yourself.
Skip the Budget (For Now)
The decision to set up a budget to help you control your finances will just add more pressure to the situation. One of the best tips to stop impulse buying is to set up an all-or-nothing mindset.
To create a spending plan with less stress, buy nothing at all for two weeks unless you’re completely out of it. If you need eggs, take a couple of dollars into the grocery store and buy eggs and nothing else. If you can’t, order them curbside and let someone else bring them to you.
At the end of these two weeks, you will have some extremely useful tools. You will
- have some money in the bank
- have a decent understanding of what you actually need, and
- be a lot more self aware in terms of where your money was going
Once you’re past the two week welded wallet challenge, go back to cash for everything but the bills you pay online. We’ve all opened our credit card statement and had a heart-clutch moment, shocked and appalled at what we’ve spent. If you have $50 in your wallet for groceries, you can spend $50 and then you may have to put some stuff back. No panic, no scary credit card bills.
Stock Up and Save
Now that you know that your family won’t perish if you don’t shop on a weekly or daily basis, it’s time to stock up and save. Paper goods, cleaning supplies, laundry products and toiletries can easily be stashed on a storage room shelf or under a bed. Designate a spot for stocking up, keep an eye on the sales and load up. If you get a coupon from a bulk store, put it to use.
Don’t be a hoarder; the world has never run out of toilet paper once. Just make sure that you have a spare container of your favorite brand of dish soap, laundry detergent and lotion in your stash.
Disconnect
If you have an app on your phone that tells you when something on your list is on sale, disable the app. One of the best tips to stop impulse buying is to make shopping a frustrating challenge. Forget your account password. Cancel the credit card that you saved on the app. Do whatever it takes to make your favorite method of impulse buying a giant pain in the neck.
Psychologist Shawn Anchor, CEO of Good Think Inc., points out that the path of good intentions is about 20 feet long. If you want to pick up a good habit or do something you know will make you happy, keep it within 20 feet of yourself. Bad things that make you sad need to be 25 feet away.
Use this on your favorite buying apps or with the email promoting a good sale. Do you need this product?
No, but I really want it because it will fill a void and buying it will be a rush.
Plus, I’ve been working hard not to spend and I deserve it!
See where this is going?
Ok, you can have it. You just need to
- get your credit card out of the attic or the basement where you stashed it for just such an urge
- reset your password because you purposely locked yourself out of the account, and
- buy the thing you don’t need that you think will make you happy even if you know it won’t.
Because this thing isn’t really anything you need, the fact that it will be a giant pain in the neck to purchase will make an impulse buy less likely. If you do go to the trouble to buy it, remember that you can probably return it, or even cancel it before it ships.
Get Visual
The “why” on controlling impulse spending is actually a very personal challenge. Are you trying to stop your impulse spending because you really can’t afford it? Is it because you can’t manage your possessions and you’re drowning in stuff you bought but no longer want?
If you’re working to stop impulse buying because you have a savings goal you want to meet, get a photo of the thing you want. Make sure that you don’t feel guilty about this thing. For example, if your family could never afford a vacation growing up and you really want to take your kids to Disneyland, you may feel some residual guilt for wanting something that seems frivolous. Fight this guilt by being proud of the memories you’re giving your kids. If anyone in your personal sphere is trying to make you feel guilty, take care not to share your dreams. Not everyone deserves them.
Keep a chart in your home to depict how you’re conquering your debt. Yes, you can view it on the computer. However, if it’s on paper you can act on it, color it, glue on a star sticker, whatever it takes to make you proud of each step on the path. You’re taking control of your life. Actions taken by you to make your monetary progress visible can give you the same jolt as buying something you don’t need. Control your finances and feel happy!
You Deserve Peace of Mind
You’ll have less stress when you know where your money has gone. A smart purchase of an item that will work exactly as you need it to isn’t exactly Nirvana, but such purchases can lead to a more fulfilling life. Knowing that you have enough can reduce the desire for more. When you control your desires, you own your own happiness in a way that impulse buying can never touch.
Conclusion
Owning everything you want as soon as you want it never ends. Someone else will always have something nicer, or at least a little different. You treat yourself to a blue what’s-it and are so happy it’s yours, and then you see someone else who has a purple what’s-it. Suddenly the blue one isn’t enough. You can’t buy your way to a more fulfilling life, but if you understand the source of the urge, you can manage it.